As someone who doesn't play JRPGs (watched a friend play it this last weekend), I was amused at how much like Dragon Age: Origins the core gameplay was. Then, I remembered all the controversy back when the latter was released about how the "Tactics" system was stolen wholesale from JRPGs.

Just farting out of my mouth here, but you know what I'd love to see in a console?

- Officially sanctioned homebrew software and games- No paid license required to run your own code on your console- Inbuilt media center with support for pirate-friendly formats, and easy integreation with network file shares/external HDD's- Easily swappable HDD bay- Less cocking around with profiles and such - if only I had like a card or some widget with an RFID chip or something which I could plug into the controller and it would have my saves/profile on it.- Free online multiplayer service (cost is quite prohibitive in Australia, although I believe it has gone down recently)- TV, and TV recording

Of course, there's just too much greed involved so nothing like that will ever happen.

I was hoping we could divorce console gaming and facebook. I honestly don't know what I care about the least, requests for facebook games, or friends who post their console game accomplishments on facebook for all to see.

Count me in as one who is concerned about the ability to play used games on the PS4. As for the comment someone made above about games not remaining forever on physical media, PS3 game disks are 50 gb. First, I don't want to have to download an entire library of 50 gb plus games. Secondly, I hate the idea of spending $60 for a non-physical game that I have to download first and could lose if something happened to my PS4. The death of used games on the next gen game consoles would kill Gamestop as they would lose the only thing keeping them competitive with Walmart and other retail chains, and the reasoning that software companies are using, saying that Gamestop is making billions reselling used games and not cutting the software companies in on those profits is retarded. That's no different than saying that all pawn shops owe movie companies money each time someone buys a pre-owned movie, or saying that when I bought my car from the used car dealership that the dealership owed Nissan a cut of the money.

Sure it similar to PC architecture, but thats what Dev's really, really want to cut down costs and time. It really isn't thought, because a closed system allows you to code to the hardware, not just the API's and spending countless hours making sure it runs ok on a billion different iterations of hardware (which then need their own damn patches anyways). Sony uses PSGL and LibGCM, but really pushes for devs to go down to the metal.

That means you get a hell of a lot more bang for your buck on hardware that PC's can't, assuming the Dev's put in the time.

8GB on a console is total overkill though. Seems to be insurance + their plans for lots of multitasking, video recording and instant on / resume. But damn, even then...

Sorry, I play games for my enjoyment, not for sharing videos of my gameplay with anyone/everyone. I could care less about the sharability of myself or my gameplay. I care about the quality of the game I play, and my ability to at least recoup some of the cost for a game that I am either done with or found lackluster compared to reviews or expectations (aliens: colonial marines, anyone?).

Lack of release date, pricing, or more detailed specs makes having your own press conference kind of pointless.

Did you read any of the reviews for that game? I was hyped up as the next person, but only one reviewer gave it a positive review and he was eviscerated in the comments. Even the usual AAA game shills tore it apart, most questioning if it was actually a finished product. Hell IGN just put an article up about whether they (the developers) lied with their preview screenshots, or "bullshots".

likefunbutnot:The only even remotely interesting aspect to this thing is its use of DDR5, which means a huge channel for data transfers between the APU (graphics) and CPU cores. Standard PCs will have that in another year or two anyway, and beyond that the proposed AMD processor is decidedly modest by current standards.

All of that means that PC gaming is looking at at least another five or six years of being retarded (in its actual, literal definition) by console hardware.

Yeah, but at least it'll be retarded at a higher level finally... My machine isn't the top-of-the line hardware on the market and yet it still is crazy overpowered for any of the latest games. I actually miss needing to upgrade every year or two now because it means graphics also haven't advanced all that much for quite a while now.

They didn't show the system, didn't set a price point, didn't explain how backwards compatibility via streaming will work, didn't show any killer launch titles or IPs, didn't address the used games lockout issue, and focused on the "social media" bullsh*t. If I want to deal with social media, i'll go on f*cking Facebook.Don't build up hype for two weeks unless you're going to bring out the big guns, Sony. This was like promising a 12 hour f*ck marathon and delivering a half-assed handjob.

But the name makes me think of a box of poop that steams when I pull the lid off.

/Cleveland Steambox.

I don't care if they name the damn thing the "Fartbox Jebadiah Prime Ponyrapist" - I'll still want one. I've got plenty of games I've purchased through Steam... To have access to all of them and any new ones I buy through Steam too AND in a form factor that fits nicely under my TV? Sign me the fark up. I can't wait for Valve to finally settle on hardware for it.

1) The digital focus and de-epmasis of actual discs is going to cut traditional retailers out of the picture. Why would GameStop or Best Buy want to sell a PS4 when you're never coming back for the games? Now, this could be the plan: cutting out the traditional middle-man. Note the partnership with Amazon video. If Sony sold the PS4 through Amazon and had consoles for sale in stores like Target and Wal-Mart that don't rely on actual game sales to help drive store, profits, I could see this gamble playing off for Sony. Of course, it would be the death-knell for Best Buy and Game Stop.

2) Sony could be creating a similar situation with the video game industry that the music industry has: limited exposure of independent titles. The 'predictability' function of the PS4 sounds nice, but it's going to stymie creation of games that aren't in pre-defined niches. How would you describe a game like 'Catherine'? Or 'Katamari Damanci'? Innovative independent games could become overlooked by obscurity the same way that a lot of indie bands are overlooked because they don't fit corporate playlists.

3) The social networking situation seems to be the best of a bad situation. Being able to keep anonymous gamer tags while still having your 'real' ID and social network for contacting and sharing with your real-life friends is a good compromise instead of just eliminating gaming tags completely.

4) Secondary processor for downloading and updating while playing: very nice

5) Cloud network for PS 1-3 titles: very nice solution for the demands for backwards compatibility

Sorry, I play games for my enjoyment, not for sharing videos of my gameplay with anyone/everyone. I could care less about the sharability of myself or my gameplay. I care about the quality of the game I play, and my ability to at least recoup some of the cost for a game that I am either done with or found lackluster compared to reviews or expectations (aliens: colonial marines, anyone?).

Lack of release date, pricing, or more detailed specs makes having your own press conference kind of pointless.

Did you read any of the reviews for that game? I was hyped up as the next person, but only one reviewer gave it a positive review and he was eviscerated in the comments. Even the usual AAA game shills tore it apart, most questioning if it was actually a finished product. Hell IGN just put an article up about whether they (the developers) lied with their preview screenshots, or "bullshots".

/have there been any photos of the PS4, or prices?

Oh, I canceled my pre-order well in advance of release, but I know a lot of unhappy people right now. It's even funnier watching randy pitchford ignoring the problems with the game and upset consumers on twitter. If you believed him, the game is a smash hit.

Right now I'm playing ni-no kuni, and loving it. The game actually makes me feel good when I've finished playing it. The music alone is worth a good chunk of the price of the game.

Sorry, I play games for my enjoyment, not for sharing videos of my gameplay with anyone/everyone. I could care less about the sharability of myself or my gameplay. I care about the quality of the game I play, and my ability to at least recoup some of the cost for a game that I am either done with or found lackluster compared to reviews or expectations (aliens: colonial marines, anyone?).

Lack of release date, pricing, or more detailed specs makes having your own press conference kind of pointless.

Did you read any of the reviews for that game? I was hyped up as the next person, but only one reviewer gave it a positive review and he was eviscerated in the comments. Even the usual AAA game shills tore it apart, most questioning if it was actually a finished product. Hell IGN just put an article up about whether they (the developers) lied with their preview screenshots, or "bullshots".

/have there been any photos of the PS4, or prices?

Oh, I canceled my pre-order well in advance of release, but I know a lot of unhappy people right now. It's even funnier watching randy pitchford ignoring the problems with the game and upset consumers on twitter. If you believed him, the game is a smash hit.

Right now I'm playing ni-no kuni, and loving it. The game actually makes me feel good when I've finished playing it. The music alone is worth a good chunk of the price of the game.

Haha good, just makin sure. God that game just looked pathetic. I've been meaning to check ni-no kuni, but saving money right now for Bioshock: Infinite. I hope that's as good as it looks.

1) The digital focus and de-epmasis of actual discs is going to cut traditional retailers out of the picture. Why would GameStop or Best Buy want to sell a PS4 when you're never coming back for the games? Now, this could be the plan: cutting out the traditional middle-man. Note the partnership with Amazon video. If Sony sold the PS4 through Amazon and had consoles for sale in stores like Target and Wal-Mart that don't rely on actual game sales to help drive store, profits, I could see this gamble playing off for Sony. Of course, it would be the death-knell for Best Buy and Game Stop.

2) Sony could be creating a similar situation with the video game industry that the music industry has: limited exposure of independent titles. The 'predictability' function of the PS4 sounds nice, but it's going to stymie creation of games that aren't in pre-defined niches. How would you describe a game like 'Catherine'? Or 'Katamari Damanci'? Innovative independent games could become overlooked by obscurity the same way that a lot of indie bands are overlooked because they don't fit corporate playlists.

3) The social networking situation seems to be the best of a bad situation. Being able to keep anonymous gamer tags while still having your 'real' ID and social network for contacting and sharing with your real-life friends is a good compromise instead of just eliminating gaming tags completely.

4) Secondary processor for downloading and updating while playing: very nice

5) Cloud network for PS 1-3 titles: very nice solution for the demands for backwards compatibility

As to point/comment 5: that is not a solution unless there is a way to verify you have a physical copy of a game and it allows you to then get the digital version for free. I have quite a few ps 1-3 games that I still own, and would see having to pay for all that content again just so I could play it from a 'cloud' to be a deal-breaker. Unless there is accommodation for owners of physical copies of content, it is neither a solution, or nice.

And as for the social networking aspect: blow that for a game of soldiers. I honestly couldn't care less about sharing my gameplay videos, let alone making them for others. I usually avoid the big social games because honestly, people suck at fair play and sportsmanship. Sure, I get suckered into something every now and then thinking it will be different, and then I am reminded of why I only play online with a very small group of people, and why MMOs are the trolling grounds of the young or infantile of mind.

Heck, I can rarely go into a public Borderlands 2 game without my blood pressure wanting to spike, and that's only 3 other people at best.

But the name makes me think of a box of poop that steams when I pull the lid off.

/Cleveland Steambox.

I don't care if they name the damn thing the "Fartbox Jebadiah Prime Ponyrapist" - I'll still want one. I've got plenty of games I've purchased through Steam... To have access to all of them and any new ones I buy through Steam too AND in a form factor that fits nicely under my TV? Sign me the fark up. I can't wait for Valve to finally settle on hardware for it.

echoshizzle:I see no future in streaming games, which seems to be a big part of the backwards compatibility. Watching the damn live conference was horrible and I can't imagine having a ton of users on Sony's servers. Not to mention there just isn't enough bandwidth (yet) for this to be worth while. Graphics on streaming games = no good.

I can't wait until Nintendo's offerings at e3. New 1st party titles that will be worth while.

Hoping that Valve actually creates and releases the steam box, as well. That will be awesome not only for console gamers, but huge for PC gamers as well.

Christ, the PS store bareful functions on a fast network connection as is. It's slow, and it's not only shiatty servers, it's the PS itself being bogged down a godawful interface/system.

It's worrisome that the developers who own and created the hardware can't write something that doesn't run worse than hammered inbred shiat.

The albatross in this announcement (IMO) is the gamers argument to his / her non-gaming SO for buying this thing.

The PS2 was a DVD player when not every household had one. PS3 was similar for BluRay and streaming and other format movies. With this announcement they missed any killer app for those who need to sell a non gamer on the product.

That said they could figure out a combo DVR/cable box combo for this system that would help sales right off the bat. But yeah that wasn't there.

Eh, I'm done with gaming by-and-large once media starts being delivered primarily through downloads unless one of two things happens:

- We pass legislation that allows me to actually own that downloaded game so that I can trade it, re-sell it, etc. rather than just paying for a license to play the game.

- Game prices go WAY down to reflect the fact that I am essentially renting the game rather than buying it.

Otherwise, there are thousands of games that I can play that I can also actually own. I can wait a couple of years for GTA VII to be put on Steam for five or ten bucks during a sale. That's about how much a game is worth to me if I don't actually own it.

azmoviez:The albatross in this announcement (IMO) is the gamers argument to his / her non-gaming SO for buying this thing.

The PS2 was a DVD player when not every household had one. PS3 was similar for BluRay and streaming and other format movies. With this announcement they missed any killer app for those who need to sell a non gamer on the product.

That said they could figure out a combo DVR/cable box combo for this system that would help sales right off the bat. But yeah that wasn't there.

I don't remember the last time I played a game on my PS3. I use mine mostly for Hulu, Netflix and the BluRay player. Lacking a next generation media format to follow BluRay for Sony to use is going to hurt the PS4.

But I will admit that using BluRay on the PS4 is still a smarter move than the rumors that the Xbox 720 will be using HD DVD.

mongbiohazard:I'll still want one. I've got plenty of games I've purchased through Steam... To have access to all of them and any new ones I buy through Steam too AND in a form factor that fits nicely under my TV? Sign me the fark up.

azmoviez:That said they could figure out a combo DVR/cable box combo for this system that would help sales right off the bat. But yeah that wasn't there.

A buddy of mine has his Xbox setup as some sort of Windows Media Center (he works for MSFT so I'm not sure if this is something that all of them do). Anyway it is really pretty nice DVR and tv guide. The netflix client is like 11x better than the PS3 one.

Without that killer feature (DVD / BluRay) Sony better watch out that MSFT will take over the home entertainment system.

Sinister Plans:miniflea: I've never been a playstation person, always was happy with my PC/Xbox/Nintendo whatever, but I'm seriously considering picking up a PS3 for Ni No Kuni and The Last of Us.

Ni No Kuni is AMAZING.

Ni No Kuni is incredibly beautiful, but I am 2 hours in so far and wondering when all the tutorials are going to end. Older games by the same developers don't dumb this stuff down nearly as hard. It's an RPG, just let me run around and explore things.

spamdog:Just farting out of my mouth here, but you know what I'd love to see in a console?

- Officially sanctioned homebrew software and games- No paid license required to run your own code on your console- Inbuilt media center with support for pirate-friendly formats, and easy integreation with network file shares/external HDD's- Easily swappable HDD bay- Less cocking around with profiles and such - if only I had like a card or some widget with an RFID chip or something which I could plug into the controller and it would have my saves/profile on it.- Free online multiplayer service (cost is quite prohibitive in Australia, although I believe it has gone down recently)- TV, and TV recording

Of course, there's just too much greed involved so nothing like that will ever happen.

What you basically want is an Ouya with more functionality. Good luck with that.

FuryOfFirestorm:I'm a huge PS3 fanboy, and I have to admit this was a huge letdown.

They didn't show the system, didn't set a price point, didn't explain how backwards compatibility via streaming will work, didn't show any killer launch titles or IPs, didn't address the used games lockout issue, and focused on the "social media" bullsh*t. If I want to deal with social media, i'll go on f*cking Facebook.Don't build up hype for two weeks unless you're going to bring out the big guns, Sony. This was like promising a 12 hour f*ck marathon and delivering a half-assed handjob.

Dude, this was a by-invitation-only event just for Sony. It's about 9 months from when the console's going to be released, and both E3 and TGS are between now and release.

Did you honestly think Sony was going to completely blow their wad on the PS4 there and save nothing for the rest of the year? They admitted it exists, showed specs, talked about what was on it, and gave a vague idea of when it's coming. Now people are talking about it... mission accomplished.

Plus... this is them softballing it back to Microsoft. They're gonna wait for Microsoft to unveil their next console and get a definitive street date and price. Sony wants them to give specifics first so they can stay competitive.

I agree that there has to be some concession made to owners of physical disks, and ideally, it should be free. All of this is contingent (as I see it) on how unique the PS 1-3 game discs are. If each disc has a unique serial code, then there's no reason why the could service shouldn't be free. Now, make no mistake that Sony will try to squeeze every last drop of money out of it, so there's more than likely going to be a charge. But, if they do a huge discount for owners of a physical disc, I'd be willing to pay maybe $0.50 for PS1, $1.50 for PS2, and $3 for PS3 titles I own being transferred to the cloud, while people without the disc pay, say, $5 for PS1, $15 for PS2, and $25 for PS3.

As to the the social networking issue, I'm with you in that I don't normally play with anyone outside of my known circle of friends so it's not a big deal for me. However, it looks like Sony has learned from the mistake Blizzard made when they tried to force implement the Real ID system a few years back. There are plenty of valid reasons for having an anonymous gamer tag, such as female gamers who don't want to be stalked because they have to show their real name to play in a multiplayer gamer where microphones aren't generally used. While I agree that there are massive amounts of immature tools playing MMO's and FPS's, I have made a few solid friendships via those kinds of games by chatting with some fellow players.

Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida says it will play them fine.

As for tonights event? They showed enough to get me interested, but i'll be waiting to see things like price, launch list, etc, before I throw down for that pre-order. If it doesn't have what i'm looking for at launch, i've no issue waiting on a purchase.

echoshizzle:Last of Us looks amazing. Hopefully for your sake the Ps3 drops in price first.

I had been wanting to buy a PS3 for a long time (already had the Wii and Xbox 360 since launch). Picked one up during this previous black Friday for $199, including Uncharted 1 & 2. I can't friggn' wait for The Last of Us.

spamdog:quiotu: What you basically want is an Ouya with more functionality. Good luck with that.

I don't see what's so unrealistic about it.

Are you talking about what you're asking for, or are you talking about the Ouya itself? The top half of your requests are already given on the Ouya, but I'd like to see if the device works long term or not. Ouya's basically getting ported versions of smartphone games, so it's not doing anything spectacular.

The problem lies in people able to do whatever they want with the hardware, firmware, and the programs they buy and download. Thousands of hackers and pirates working on this hardware in tandem... it's either going to show what white hats can truly do when working together, or it's going to turn into the Lament Configuration... and show you all why you can't have nice things.

It'll play used games is good but no backwards capability unless you stream it pissed me off. So far, I'll need to wait for the price, the launch games & release date to be announced at E3 to see if I'll pull the trigger. 2nd Son & Killzone look sweet while Watch Dogs looks insane. Nice to see the Vita actually has a use again with Remote Play but a new Move game? Nope.

What's interesting is that homebrew stuff was a big deal in Japan for ages in part because developer decks were sold like regular consoles in Japan. Though with the advent of Android consoles, there's two on the way, get something where not only do you get homebrew those games have the means to sell a ton of copies if they're good.